Branson Winfrey, son of Sean and Brandy Winfrey.

It was a night to remember for the Tyler Consolidated wrestling team as they honored their seniors – Colsen Spragg, Branson Winfrey, Nate Deaton, Gabe Glover, Mariah King and Sofia Corso -for their years of dedication to the sport. The silver knights delivered a nearly flawless performance, making senior night one for the record books.

The Knights kicked off the Wednesday evening, February 12, by defeating Frontier 46-0 then continued their dominance beating Paden City 42-6 and then upending Magnolia 35-24. Coach Eric McKeever stated, “I was worried we weren’t going to be able to get in our Senior Night as it was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was cancelled when the snow clipper came in. With a few schedule adjustments and several phone calls we were able to pull it off on Wednesday. I couldn’t be prouder of the six seniors who have poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears in the program over the years.” The coach went on to say this is a special group because they are the kids he first coached as freshmen when he returned to Tyler Consolidated. “I could go on and on about these kids, but I’m pretty sure there is not enough space in the newspaper. Though Senior Night has come and gone, these kids still have goals to reach as the season comes to a close in the next several weeks.”

Saturday, February 16, six Silver Knight wrestlers competed in the LKC Championships held at Braxton County High School in Sutton, WV.

Branson Winfrey would lead the charge becoming the latest LKC Individual Champion. Branson found himself in the finals against a familiar foe from Williamstown, Kip Freed, whom he had lost to earlier in the season. This time the results would be different as the two went back and forth in nail biting, palm sweating fashion. Heading into the 3rd period, the score was deadlocked at 8. Branson hit a different gear and was able to toss his opponent strait to his back and didn’t let him up. Branson won his first LKC Championship with a good ol’ fashion mat slapper.

Fellow wrestler, Colsen Spragg, who has been battling sickness over the past week, also was in the finals. Colsen would lead the entire match but with 10 seconds left in the match gave up a takedown and would finish as LKC Runner-up. Coach McKeever told Colsen how proud he was of him for wrestling when not 100%. Without a doubt, the coach believes if Colsen hadn’t been sick he would have won the entire tournament as well.

Sophomores Kellan Dalrymple and Gideon Winfrey also made the finals and would end up losing each of their final matches to place as LKC Runner-up in their respective weight classes. Senior Nate Deaton also wrestled well but fell one win short of placing. Freshman Martel King also would win a match by pin fall to add to the team total. With just six wrestlers participating in 14 weight classes, the team would finish 6th overall and just 5 points from the Top 5.

This week the Silver Knights will prepare for the Regional Wrestling Tournament for their chance to compete in the State Tournament. Regionals will be held at St. Marys High School and will begin at 10 AM. “It’s a Regional tournament, it’s close to home and these kids would never admit it, but they would love the support from our local community in attendance,” added Coach McKeever.